Daily Briefing - 12/1/06

Happy December all! The holiday season approaches (not like it hasn't been approaching since October, thanks commercialism).

In today's global warming news, reports are out that show warming may be linked to bigger monsoons in India and South Asia and the future. Across the Indian Ocean, some Aussies are questioning what their place in the Kyoto Protocol does for anyone, while the land of the ancestors pushes forward on tough cabon cuts which the U.S. (gasp, I'm so surprised!) opposes. If somebody starts to cackle about the mild hurricane season debunking global warming, feel free to send them directly to the liberal bastion that is the Houston Chronicle. To paraphrase, this past season is "no excuse to discount the risks." Wait, climate is different than weather? We can't make a judgment with one single data point? Rats.

In Washington, Speaker-elect Pelosi chooses Congressman Reyes (D-TX) to chair the Intelligence Committee, no doubt pleasing the Congressional Hispanic Caucus but angering the Congressional Black Caucus and disappointing all the Jane Harman fans out there. In '08 news, Mitt Romney employed illegal immigrants, John McCain is trying to scare Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton is scared of Barack Obama, nobody knows who Tom Vilsack is, and nobody cares about John Kerry.

The other news has a couple of interesting pieces (by my opinion). An op-ed from Tom "I don't care what Chris Columbus thinks, the world is flat" Friedman examines current global conflict and sees alternative energy as our saving grace. The Christian Science Monitor offers up ways to conserve in an unglamorous, yet highly effective manner, and an anlaysis of the hurricane season's effect on the energy market.

The blogosphere is atwitter with talk of '08... races in House, Senate, Dog Catcher are already being strategized and overthought. And finally, schools are buying students cars for having good attendance (my generation isn't spoiled enough, you know) and airports now want to use X-Ray vision (for good they say). I don't know, the only one I can think of who uses X-Ray vision for good is Superman. On to the briefing!

MW

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Daily Briefing – 12/1/06
It’s the most… wonderful time… of the year!

Key Issues in the News
Global Warming
- Washington Post on the Supreme Court case
- In Australia, questions about the validity of Kyoto
- Global warming linked to bigger monsoons
o Affecting Indian farming
o Also from Scientific American, Reuters, International Herald Tribune
- Skiers worry careers could be crimped
- EU embarks on tough carbon cuts
o U.S. opposes cuts scheme for airliners
- Forbes: Carbon trading catch up
- Houston Chronicle: Mild hurricane season is no excuse for discounting risks of climate change
- EPA staffers go to Hill over global warming
- Global warming test for Arnold, lawmakers
- Oregon’s Secretary of State, Bill Bradbury, among the Gore cavalry
- Activist offers Vermonters ten tips to slow global warming
- Overstating the obvious?
o Reaction from Grist
Washington/Legislation/Politics/People/etc.
- D.C. still fighting for voting representation
- Pelosi picks Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) to head Intelligence Committee
- Testing Harry Reid
- Security of electronic voting condemned
o Could be a major cause of FL-13 bungled race
- Rep. Kendrick Meek asks Americans what we should do with that rubber stamp
- Potential ‘08ers…
o Romney (used illegal immigrants), McCain (crashing “Romney’s” party), Kerry (Asks people to move on, pretty please), Vilsack (goes to NH, hopes somebody recognizes him), Obama (still angering the Christian right), Clinton (starts to move)
Other News from the Media
- Hurricane season’s dud may be energy market’s gain
- Tom Friedman on using renewable energy as our wall separating us from the Middle East
- Not so glamorous conservation works best
- Beijing sets national standard for methanol as automotive fuel
…and the Blogosphere
- SciGuy: What did we learn this hurricane season?
- The Fix is already looking at the ’08 House races
- DailyKos looks at the AL and GA Senate ’08 races… Jonathan Singer at MYDD weighs in as well… as does Political Insider
- Eugene Volokh from the National Review on why Rep-elect Keith Ellison has every right to be sworn in with the Koran
- Nora Ephron from HuffPo defends Jim Webb’s “boorishness”
- From a diary on DailyKos: Global warming and energy policy on collision course
- An interview with Andrew Revkin, environment reporter for NYT
- From Grist:
o A Wyoming town fights back against gas exploration
o The revolution will be solarized
o What Saudi Arabia wants, Saudi Arabia gets
Miscellaneous… or just plain weird
- Single massive asteroid wiped out dinosaurs and lots of other species, study says
- TOMS Shoes: You buy a pair, a pair gets sent to a child in need
- Airports consider using X-Ray screening, the same used in prisons. Like getting through an airport wasn’t enough like prison…
- What the heck… all I ever got was a stupid certificate.
- The White House holiday menu
Quotes O’ the Day
"If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life." ~Rachel Carson

Daily Briefing - 11/30/06

There are lot of reactions from around the country and the world on yesterday's "global warming Supreme Court case." One of the more pointed reactions comes from 10,000 EPA (the agency arguing against regulating CO2 and other GHGs) employees asking Congress to, in fact, regulate CO2 and address global warming seriously. Hmm, do we have some internal conflict here? Two of the world's major metropolitan cities study how global warming affects them, while it may be the cows that will doom us all.

In Washington, we're down to three undecided House races (FL-13, LA-02, and TX-23) now that NC-08 is officially decided. Some serious punditry envelopes this section of the briefing with columns from a rather dyspeptic George Will (reacting to a rather dyspeptic Jim Webb), a frustrated David Brooks, a whimsical David Broder, and a somewhat disillusioned Michael Barone. Today's briefing drips with stature.

In other news, there is a fantastic article from NYT on the end of ingenuity and how we can no longer expect human innovation to save our keisters every time we find ourselves in a crunch. FEMA has been ordered by a Federal Judge to -- gasp! -- pay the aid it promised from Hurricane Katrina.


Finally, it's wet in Seattle. The Pope is Catholic. Bears sh... uhh, I'll stop there. Mel Gibson feels Michael Richards pain... gee, you think so? The Army got scammed to buy a whole lot of golf balls... maybe the person responsible is one of the 1 out of every 32 Americans who is in jail, on probation, or on parole. All that and more in the briefing...

MW

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Daily Briefing – 11/30/06
704 days until the NEXT election… and global warming is an integral part of our nation’s agenda!

Key Issues in the News
Global Warming
- NYT: Justices first brush with global warming
o Also from Boston Globe, LA Times, Houston Chronicle, USA Today, SF Chronicle, Denver Post, CNN, BBC, and The Economist
o Analysis from Grist, here and here
o EPA employees issue a petition in support of regulating greenhouse gases
- Warming driving winters out of Bankok
- Researcher says it can be slowed
- Study: Global warming and New York
- It’s those darn cows!
- In Australia, targeting businesses to avoid painful power bills
- Worried skiers
Washington/Legislation/Politics/People/etc.
- George Will takes umbrage with Jim Webb
- David Broder on Rep. Jim Leach
- More Muslims gaining political ground
- David Brooks gives some advice to the Republicans
- Democratic challenger concedes in NC-08
- With massive spending bills still in flux, a war that rages on, the Republicans look to use the lame-duck session to pass a “fetal pain bill”
- Michael Barone cries about all the unforced errors Republicans have made
- Potential ‘08ers…
o Clinton (afraid of Obama), Clinton again (the primary problem), Vilsack (it’s official), Obama (people are spelling his name wrong)
o Hotline on the ’08 Republicans
Other News from the Media
- The End of Ingenuity
o Reaction from Grist
- FEMA told to resume storm aid, unconstitutionally denied by Bush administration
- The juggernaut we all know as Wal-Mart begins to fade?
- Environmental heckler confronts GM chief
…and the Blogosphere
- The Fix: The Case for Vilsack
- MYDD on partisan self-identification shifts
- TPM Muckraker on the FL-13
- Al Gore talks about “hot glacier on glacier action”
- From Grist:
o Eating elite, is it possible to do it affordably?
o Is sushi sustainable?
o Organic food on ABC News
- Rothenberg Report on TX-23 and LA-2 special elections
- TomPaine: The other climate disaster
Miscellaneous… or just plain weird
- My goodness its wet out there
- Army scammed into buying golf ball. Let’s hope they at least got the new Titleist driver to go with them… that thing is a beast.
- 1 out of every 32 people in U.S. are in jail, on probation, or parole… wow.
- And in more uplifting news (oh man, I’m gonna pay for a joke this bad), scientist levitate animals
- Mel Gibson to Michael Richards: You’re a racist, I’m an anti-Semite, let’s hug.
- Stephen Hawking wants us to colonize other planets
Quotes O’ the Day
“Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves.” ~ Albert Einstein

Supreme Court Tackles Global Warming

Massachusetts v. EPA
The case centered around whether the EPA was required by the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon dioxide (and 3 other chemicals) from auto emissions as "air pollutants" or "agents of air pollution." Massachusetts brought the case, saying the state would suffer serious harm and loss of sovereignty (i.e. would lose land) due to rising sea levels from global warming caused directly by the greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles.

The arguments from the Justices to the lawyer from Massachusetts (our guy), centered on "standing", that is, whether Massachusetts could truly show they were being harmed by green house gas emissions from U.S. cars, and whether by regulating these emissions that harm would be lessened. The basic argument of the questioning justices seemed two-fold, 1) There is still enough scientific uncertainty as to how much global warming is caused by human sources, and what the effects of global warming will be; this argument prevents Massachusetts from showing "imminent" harm from carbon emissions; and 2) Emissions from US cars represent only 6% total global emissions, thus a 40% reduction from cars would by only 2.5% reduction of total global emissions, and this wouldn't occur fully for 10-15 years and as a percentage of global emissions it is relying on other countries not increasing emissions; this argument prevents Massachusetts from showing that regulating car emissions would have any real effect on rising sea level.

On the opposing side, the Lawyer for the EPA (our opposition) was questioned by Justices regarding both "standing" and "merit" - essentially these questioning Justices rebuffed the EPA's arguments that Massachusetts could not prove imminent harm, and then the Justices argued that even a small percentage reduction in global emissions via regulating car pollution would have some effect on rising sea levels, and so Massachusetts was right to bring the case.

While these were the arguments, ultimately it comes down to how each justice votes. As such here is my reading of each justice (from left to right on the dais):

1) Breyer - Vastly supportive of our side. He grilled the EPA lawyer, making parallels of Carbon dioxide and Agent Orange, and claiming Massachusetts was well within their right to ask each agency to do their part, so that with many sources reducing greenhouse gases, "lo and behold Cape Cod is saved!" (this drew a laugh.)

2) Thomas - Didn't say one word. Will likely vote with Scalia, always does.

3) Kennedy - Asked questions of both sides. Questioned Massachusetts on standing, asked whether states would have the same standing as private land owners who stood to lose land. Also questioned EPA over merits, claiming that regulating carbon could have an impact on total global emissions.

4) Stevens - Didn't speak much. When EPA lawyer referenced NAS study showing uncertainty, Stevens refered to Amicus of NAS saying EPA filtered finding to show uncertainty. Seemed on our side.

5) Roberts - Questioned both sides about standing, but clearly came to the EPA lawyer's defense when he was having trouble answering Breyer's questions. I don't think he thought Massachusetts had standing.

6) Scalia - Practically argued for the EPA. Said there was no standing, and that, while he's no scientist, science is very uncertain as to what will happen. He capped off a rant with "I don't want to have to deal with global warming."

7) Souter - Strongly with us. Clearly said, some reduction of emissions will have reduce loss of land to sea level rise, which supports Massachusetts.

8) Ginsburg - Questioned both sides, didn't clearly show her support, but given history likely to support our side.

9) Alito - Didn't seem to think Massachusetts provided proof for eminent harm. Given history, likely to side with Scalia.

So, to my calculation that brings us down to 4-4, with Kennedy on the fence (just like the wetlands case). My gut hunch is that Kennedy will think Massachusetts doesn't have standing, thus leaving a 5-4 decision against us. However, I'm notoriously bad at predictions and tend to be pessimistic, and upon leaving the court there seemed to be full agreement that the case went as well for us as it possibly could have. So fingers crossed, in the next 6 months (yes, up to 6 months to wait!) we will have a decision that declares carbon dioxide a pollutant that the EPA has to regulate!

As a side note, for our New England friends, our enviro champion Congressman Markey was in attendance (and appeared to be the only member) and was seen smiling on the way out.

That's what I got. Call me for questions about the case, the atmosphere, or camping out on the street the night before; contact John Kostyack for any legal questions.

Derek Brockbank

P.S. Please keep in mind that this is only my opinion as a witness to the case and NOT NWF's official position.

*Also see the AP story here.

UPDATE: Here is the transcript of this morning's proceedings.

Daily Briefing - 11/29/06

As of an hour or so ago, the Supreme Court finished hearing arguments on the validity of including greenhouse gases as pollutants in the Clean Air Act. Such a a decision would force the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate these global warming causing gases. Look for a more in-depth post on the SC proceedings later on today. In other global warming news, renowned scientist and creator of the Gaia theory, James Lovelock thinks that Britain will triumph over global warming and it will make them a world power again. The distinction may be disputed however as "environmental power" is only one of the "World Power" titles. "Military Power," "Economic Power," and WBC title holders must also be taken into consideration.

In Washington, Jim Webb almost picked a fight with the President (I'm not kidding), and Sen. Reid set out his agenda. Sadly, nobody took him seriously because honestly, the Democrats don't have any plans. Speaker-elect Pelosi decided an impeached (but NOT convicted) Federal Judge would not be the best choice as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and '08ers are all over the place... including Boston's North End (Hey Mitt, grab me a canoli from Mike's Pastries... they're THE BEST).

In other news, Laurie David picks on teachers for siding with oil companies over Al Gore, a judge sides with blind people over people who prefer their money smooth, and the Bush Administration said if this step doesn't work Kim Jong Il will have to sit in time-out. Finally, the Vice President took all the necessary precautions not to shoot anybody this time around. All that and more... in the briefing.

MW

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Daily Briefing – 11/29/06
705 days until the NEXT election… and global warming is an integral part of our nation’s agenda!

Key Issues in the News
Global Warming
- It’s on! Supreme Court hears the case today.
o Analysis from Forbes, SF Chron, Boston Globe, Washington Post, USA Today, WSJ, NYT, NPR, Guardian (UK), and Yahoo
- The politics of global warming
- Scientist predicts Britain’s triumph over global warming will make them RULER OF THE WORLD
- Warming oceans storing climate disaster
o Also from The Sydney Morning Herald
- The Standard (China): Escaping Global Warming
- Warming and storm intensity tied
- Hartford Courant: Fight Warming with Pollution?
- Scientists drill down
- Grist: The problem with carbon taxes
Washington/Legislation/Politics/People/etc.
- Majority Leader-elect Reid sets agenda for the Senate
- Pelosi will not name Rep. Alcee Hastings (the once impeached, yet never convicted Federal Judge) as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee
- Democrats take the PA State House for the first time in a dozen years… and in their only pickup, the GOP won back the MT State House after a recount
- “Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief.”
- John Hall is “still the one” – arrgh, I can’t believe I just made that joke
- Potential ‘08ers…
o Obama (angering the Christian right), Frist (won’t run), Clinton (worried about Obama), Obama again (going to New Hampshire), Vilsack (Also going to NH), Clark (won’t start late again), Edwards (in Iowa), Romney (setting up digs in the North End), Romney again (locking down staff)
Other News from the Media
- The National Science Teacher Association doesn’t want to upset their “certain targeted supporters,” -- ahem, ExxonMobil – by receiving free copies of An Inconvenient Truth
- Study reports that energy use could be cut by more than half over the next 15 years by efficiency
- Paper money unfair to the blind?
- The Bush Administration has begun to deal with the now nuclear North Korea… by taking away their iPods
- Ecobabes! Raising funds and blood pressure for the Climate Protection Campaign of Sonoma County
- When is a fish really organic?
- Michael Grunwald on The Greening of America… not our kind of green, the kind that pays for stuff
…and the Blogosphere
- The Fix: Voters hot on Giuliani, cold on Kerry
- DailyKos: On San Francisco Values
- They’re working on giving “Cold Cash” Jefferson the boot over at MYDD
- RedState: What is dividing Republicans --moderates or conservatives?
- From Grist:
o A talk with pop star and social activist, Moby
o Sustainability in world politics
o Pharmaceutical animal testing shifts to China
- Sen. Inhofe on eco-terrorism
Miscellaneous… or just plain weird
- And if you’re a nerd like me who would find this interesting – The results of a 20 year study into the moral reasoning in athlete populations
- “Argentina, former safe haven for Nazi war criminals, is drawing the line at the Bush twins.”
- Parts of Interstate 10 were blocked off in Florida yesterday and for good reason… The Vice President was hunting.
- PETA’s worst dressed: Nicole Richie, animal skin and bones.
Quotes O’ the Day
“I got into this race because my wife told me to stop yelling at the TV." ~ Representative-elect John Hall (D-NY19)

Daily Briefing - 11/28/06

The press continues to stew over the global warming case our venerable SCOTUS is hearing. Environmentalists are unsure exactly how this should turn out, but the carmakers are sure that this would kill the SUV. (A moment of silence... done?... okay.) The crocodiles, as well as many amphibians are not as worried about the SUV's existence, they fear for their own. And in the worst global warming related news... the Alpine skiing World Cup may be disrupted!!!

For all you political junkies out there, the first '08 yard sign is up somewhere in SC for some guy named John Cox. Can we call him the frontrunner? Well regardless, his opponents are making some news. The Newster is speaking fire and brimstone in comments about Iraq. John Edwards is copying Barack Obama by going on a book tour and Tom Vilsack hired some people... umm, that was anticlimactic.

The Guardian (UK) gives us a list of the top 100 "green campaigners" of all time. It includes such stalwarts as Rachel Carson, Al Gore, John Muir, Amory Lovins, and ... Siddhartha! Sadly, they made an egregious error by not including NWF's founder and great conservationist, Ding Darling.

Finally, we learn today that Lance Bass loves goats (not in that way, sheesh), Keith Olbermann will be staying on at MSNBC for a while longer, and Rush Limbaugh wants to blow up the Middle East... its called "compassionate conservativism." All that and more, in the briefing...

MW

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Daily Briefing – 11/28/06
706 days until the NEXT election… and global warming is an integral part of our nation’s agenda!

Key Issues in the News
Global Warming
- New York Times: Global Warming Goes to Court
o Also from San Jose Mercury News, Fox News, Christian Science Monitor, Baltimore Sun, Pittsburgh Tribune,
o At Grist, they want the ideal situation
o Carmakers say rules would endanger SUVs
- Carbon emissions show sharp rise
o Also from Mongabay
- Not only will Crocodile genders be all screwy, but their population will dwindle
- Will it cause multiple species extinction
- Europe accepts its role as green pioneer of the world
- Some fret, others scoff
- The Yakima Herald wants you to join the fight
- A cool reception for a carbon tax in Britain
- Increasing diseases in people
- Travel firms plan green levies
- Changing climate is disrupting Alpine skiing world cup
Washington/Legislation/Politics/People/etc.
- Three House races still in dispute
- In case you didn’t know, Jim Webb won… officially
- Doing the primary shuffle
- On the potential ‘08ers…
o Vilsack, Gingrich, Edwards
o And the first yard signs are out? ... I have no idea who this guy is.
Other News from the Media
- Ego monsters on the web
- The top 100 green campaigners of all time
- Thanks to Kristin Johnson (the one from DC) for pointing this out à Ecosexuals
o Grist’s reaction
- A smog fighting church
- Trying to save trees from butternut canker
- Using the Appalachian Trail as an early warning
- Pastor chosen to lead Christian Coalition steps down in dispute over agenda which included reducing poverty and fighting global warming
…and the Blogosphere
- DailyKos: Audit of the FL-13 and Eco-Heroes
- MYDD: Presidential Straw Poll and Playing in Blue Districts
- Schwarzenegger on Inhofe: Backward and from the stone age
- RCP: An increased volatility among the electorate
- TomPaine: Rocky Mountain Blue
- From Grist:
o Gift ideas but only if you can’t find anything here!
o Wind storage and efficiency
o Happy Feet: Sadly, not a true story
o Water shortages in India, rest of the world
Miscellaneous… or just plain weird
- YouTube on your cellphone?
- Rush Limbaugh wants the Middle East blown up
- US Embassy asks Bush twins to leave
- Keith Olbermann’s gloves come off
- Now this is a statement I hope never to have to make.
- Ben Stein, noted fiscal conservative and teacher of Ferris Bueller supports a tax increase?!
- Lance Bass – Goat Lover
Quotes O’ the Day
“In a situation where many national leaders do the same thing and look out for national interests, and with an issue like global warming, you're likely to get no solution, so I think you have to have some kind of ethical trump on some of those issues.” ~ Peter Singer

Daily Briefing - 11/27/06

The Supreme Court will be taking up its global warming case. Lots of news sources have analysis. While the Administration continually ignores the seriousness of global warming, energy firms have come to terms with it. Grist thinks this makes the President and everyone's favorite Senator (Inhofe) irrelevant. Hopefully the "Gore army" can lead these irrelevant decisionmakers on the path to reality.

In other news, potential Presidential candidates are making their mark, via discussion of they're religion, dislike of Wal-Mart, or simply political positioning. Chairman-elect Dingell hints at an array of investigations, and the New York Times writes a requiem for the Yankee Republican. The President may not care to handle global warming, but he wants $500 million to build his library. Meanwhile, the blogopshere offers us an array of (not investigations, thankfully) interesting pieces from political cartoons to the Texas 23rd special election to the organic cotton industry and the rebranding of liberalism. All that and much, much more in the briefing.

MW
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Daily Briefing – 11/27/06
707 days until the NEXT election… and global warming is an integral part of our nation’s agenda!

Key Issues in the News
Global Warming
- High court to hear global warming case
o States fight for cleaner air, cars
o WSJ: An Inconvenient Case
o Washington Post: Climate in the Court
o SF Chronicle: Case could shape policy
§ Also from San Fran Chronicle, and Houston Chronicle
- On the move to outrun climate change
- Administration needs to stop ignoring seriousness of global warming
- Energy firms come to terms with climate change
- 10 questions for Al Gore
- Gore volunteers spread the message
- Seeing clues in North Pole clouds
- Bangor Daily News: The Tipping Point
- Yemen Times: A Grave Threat
- Carl Pope goes to Wisconsin
- Poorest countries pay highest price
- Dear ExxonMobil…
- Grist:
o Could the sun be causing climate change?
o Deniers are irrelevant
o How to talk to a climate skeptic
- A sex switch in crocodiles?
Washington/Legislation/Politics/People/etc.
- Democratic gains in suburbs spell trouble for GOP
- Chance of upset remains in the NC-8
- An array of investigations?
- R.I.P. Yankee Republican
- From one porker to the next
- A look at John McCain: Do we need another T.R.?
o Analysis from TPM
- More from potential ‘08ers…
o Obama, Brownback, Romney, Romney again, Edwards, Giuliani,
Other News from the Media
- A $500 million library? ... Alright, this deserves a question. What kinds of books, etc. do we think the Bush 43 library will be fully stocked with?
- Bringing back an island from the brink of collapse
- Reason: Big ideas for the future of energy
- Most Americans favor guest worker program
…and the Blogosphere
- The Agonist: Things I don’t Understand, and Things I Can Do to Help
- Cartoons from Bob Geiger
- TX-23 special election set for Dec. 12th
- Rev. Al Sharpton has some advice for the Democrats
- Sustainability, energy independence and agricultural policy
- The Economist: Rebranding Liberalism
- From Grist:
o Eat free or Die
o The U.S. organic cotton industry
o Jay-Z in Africa
o Charcoal: The wonder fuel of the future?
o Golden Eagles cruising for a bruising
- Armed towns catching on
Miscellaneous… or just plain weird
- Did you know that some stores were open at 3:00am the day after Thanksgiving? Not to judge anyone, but who shops at 3:00am!?!?
- Soaps go transgender
- Tweens… the younger “teens”
- Fat studies?
Quotes O’ the Day
“I am guilty of asking the Senate for pork and proud of the Senate for giving it to me.” ~ Sen. Ted Stevens